Police report pattern of robberies

Robberies in the Hyde Park-South Kenwood community have decreased 23 percent for the first 10 months of the year, compared with the same period in 1994. However, residents are cautioned to remain alert when walking in the neighborhood and to use common-sense methods of crime prevention, such as traveling with one or more companions, said Robert Mason, Executive Director of the South East Chicago Commission.

Police believe that two individuals operating as a team may be responsible for a pattern of four armed robberies in the area.

In all of the incidents, two offenders approached people walking on the street and robbed them at gunpoint. In one of the robberies, the perpetrators were riding bicycles. The offenders are described as African-American males, 17 to 20 years old, 5'8" to 5'10", with medium-brown complexions. In three of the incidents, the offenders were wearing dark, hooded sweatshirts and dark pants.

The incidents occurred at 10:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in the 5200 block of South Greenwood; at 10:15 p.m. Oct. 28 in the 900 block of 54th Street; at 6:40 p.m. Oct. 30 in the 1300 block of 54th Street; and at 7:25 p.m. Nov. 9 in the 1300 block of 52nd Street.

"The best deterrent to robberies and purse snatchings on the street is to walk with companions," Mason said. "It isn't foolproof, but it is the most effective method. Since we started keeping such statistics in 1993, no fewer than 70 percent of robbery or purse-snatching victims have been alone on the street at the time the crime occurred."